31-10-2012, 06:13 PM
Apologies to anyone who's seen this video of a simple 'wave-winder' before. I know that it has inspired quite a few vintage radio enthusiasts to build one.
I posted pics of mine recently, which just needs the wire feed guide making to be finished. The winder can be cheaply made - I made mine from bits I already had. I just needed to buy the steel washers that are used for the cam and drive. I found that the drive wheel - for which I used an 'O' on a pulley that I turned, slipped on its mating disc, so I glued a disc of 400g wet and dry to the metal disc to give a better grip. I also found that the spiring in the 'tally counter' (the type of thing used to count people back onto a coach to make sure no-one is left behind!) was too strong, and caused the drive spindle to stall, so I had to dismantle the counter (fiddly job) and cut a couple of turns off the spring to weaken it. I only fitted that type of counter to be faithful to the original, but I'll remove it and as I said in another post, instead, I'll use a pocket calculator with a microswitch on the wider spindle, wired across the '=' button on the calculator to increment the turns. Cheap, simple and no resistance on the winder drive mechanism.
The width of the coil is determined by how far the 'cam' (a brass collar soldered off centre to a disc) is set off centre. That pushes the wire guide back and forth to the extent of the offset.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIOocMoRsYQ
Neat eh?
I posted pics of mine recently, which just needs the wire feed guide making to be finished. The winder can be cheaply made - I made mine from bits I already had. I just needed to buy the steel washers that are used for the cam and drive. I found that the drive wheel - for which I used an 'O' on a pulley that I turned, slipped on its mating disc, so I glued a disc of 400g wet and dry to the metal disc to give a better grip. I also found that the spiring in the 'tally counter' (the type of thing used to count people back onto a coach to make sure no-one is left behind!) was too strong, and caused the drive spindle to stall, so I had to dismantle the counter (fiddly job) and cut a couple of turns off the spring to weaken it. I only fitted that type of counter to be faithful to the original, but I'll remove it and as I said in another post, instead, I'll use a pocket calculator with a microswitch on the wider spindle, wired across the '=' button on the calculator to increment the turns. Cheap, simple and no resistance on the winder drive mechanism.
The width of the coil is determined by how far the 'cam' (a brass collar soldered off centre to a disc) is set off centre. That pushes the wire guide back and forth to the extent of the offset.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIOocMoRsYQ
Neat eh?
Regards, David.
BVWS Member.
G-QRP Club Member 1339.
'I'm in my own little world, but I'm happy, and they know me here'
BVWS Member.
G-QRP Club Member 1339.
'I'm in my own little world, but I'm happy, and they know me here'
